Come In, Come In, Come In To My Room

A convergence of circumstances so powerful it actually NECESSITATES a post:
Over easter break Jess' very musically-minded uncle (he has the same speakers used by The Grateful Dead) called and asked her if she knew the song "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" by Leonard Cohen . . . luckily, thanks to Kate's creepy obsession with it (if it were a person, it would have a restraining order) she DID know the line about a certain indecent act . . .

Time for a little clarification: this is basically the best song in the world. About a one night stand with Janis Joplin. By a sexy Canadian poet/songwriter. In a very very historically pleasing hotel. That, and it is sad, and sweet, and covered by the very best of people. We hope you'll agree. And excuse our hyperbole.

The liner notes for the album New Skin for the Old Ceremony (a pretty hot name, if you ask us) make its origin sound even more exotic: "I wrote this for an American singer who died a while ago. She used to stay at the Chelsea, too. I began it at a bar in a Polynesian restaurant in Miami in 1971 and finished it in Asmara, Ethiopia, just before the throne was overturned. Ron Cornelius helped me with a chord change in an earlier version." Really, who could resist oblique references to Hailie Selassie? Not us.

As for the #2 in the title, it is either to mark a mundane alternate version, or a sign of something much more pernicious.

And now for the workers in song . . .
1. The original: "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" by Leonard Cohen. Buy The Best of Leonard Cohen here.
2. The cover: "Chelsea Hotel (Live on the BBC)" by Regina Spektor. For other notable covers, try Josh Ritter or Rufus Wainwright. Buy any Regina Spektor album (take your pick . . . they are both excellent, but sadly, neither includes this song) here.
3. The takeoff: "The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song" by Jeffrey Lewis. Jeffrey Lewis doesn't have a wonderful voice. Or much variation in his chord playing. But he does write funny, light, and lovely anti-folk. That, and he's a cartoonist. Which is pretty sweet. Buy the Jeffrey Lewis album The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane and Other Favorites here.

Jess EDIT: I too was excited to download "The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song" but was dismayed when the song didn't work. DRM has won the fight, but we will win the war. As consolation, here is Rufus Wainwright's live cover or buy it here.

Kate EDIT: Forty million Frenchmen may not be wrong, but I certainly am. Jess is the golden god of technology around here. I am but a sham of a blogger and apologize for my inability to provide you with the Oral Sex you desire . . .